Remove Plugin::activate?

[SimonSapin]

Since #1463 no plugin implements the activate method. Is it still useful, or can every plugin manage with doing its initialization in new? If we remove it for 1.0, we’ll still have the option of adding it back in 1.x if needed.

@BrynCooke wanted to have a look at why it was added in the first place

[BrynCooke]

Its useful if a plugin has to interact with a global.

The issue is that if a plugin interacts with a global during construction then there is no way to recover if a subsequent plugin fails.

Unlike construction, activate is infallible, so interaction with globals at this point is safe.

I would not bank on hot reload for telemetry staying out forever, and I can imagine that there will be other situations where interactions with globals may be necessary.

[garypen]

Those are arguments for why we might need it in the future though and, as @SimonSapin noted, it's easy to make compatible additions. I'd favour removing it until we need it.

[BrynCooke]

I was thinking more about users which are trying to interact with their own client libraries rather than us. I agree we don't have a usecase right now, but lifecycle of other libraries won't necessarily follow our plugins. Agree we can remove and wait for user to ask for it though.